


Bitter

by fourteenlines



Category: Farscape
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:33:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22251886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourteenlines/pseuds/fourteenlines
Summary: Katralla and Tyno, after the poisoning.
Relationships: Katralla/Tyno
Kudos: 1





	Bitter

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted March 2002.

The day the physicians decided that Princess Katralla would live, the royal family had Councilor Tyno in front of the Senate announcing her full recovery. He knew differently, of course. She was still weak, with a greenish tinge underlying the translucent flush of her skin. Whatever had made her ill, it had almost killed her.

There were nights when Tyno snuck into the laboratory, gripping her hand while she writhed in silent agony. Her doctors had shown him enhanced images of her blood samples - the pictures on the vid monitor looked like boiling red acid. They said her DNA was being unraveled, then realigning, and there was nothing they could do. He had wondered how much of Katralla would be left when this ran its course.

It wasn't until five weekens after her "full recovery" that Katralla was able to leave the med compound of her own volition. It was the first time in ten cycles she'd left her chambers without thought to proper etiquette - hair undone, no makeup. She didn't look like she cared, princess or not. Her eyes were wild and frightened.

Tyno met her at the compound door. "Katralla."

She stood frozen a moment, before launching herself into his embrace. Katralla clung to him so tightly he couldn't breathe. "I am _so_ glad to be out of there."

"How do you feel?" he asked, stroking her hair. She never wore it loose. He loved it this way - it reminded him of the way her hair brushed his chest when they were together.

"Nervous. Lonely. Agitated, I don't know." Her voice shook.

Tyno pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot at her temple. "I was worried. For a long time, I was worried."

When his lips pressed against her neck, Katralla pulled away. "Not here, in the garden."

He took her shoulders, searching her face. She looked better, and he was so hungry for her, it came out in the rasp of his voice. "Where?"

Katralla's nostrils flared as she squinted into the middle distance, thinking. "Your rooms."

A frown crossed his face. "Is that wise? Your mother will be looking for you."

"Your rooms," Katralla insisted. "And don't stop worrying yet." She produced from her clean white garments a full vial of compatibility serum. "They say my DNA's been poisoned." And then she took off at a run, in the direction of his residence.

Katralla had a swift form, and even in her weakened state he didn't catch up with her until she had reached his rooms. Tyno's hands fumbled with the latch handle. As soon as he slipped inside, Katralla had him pinned against the door. She dipped the serum wand to her own tongue, then his. Their tongues touched; passionate, her fingers wrapped around his neck as they kissed.

He wanted to vomit. 

They'd done this before, and tasted sweet syrup. _This_ was the most awful taste he could imagine. And when the reality sunk in, he wanted to vomit again.

Katralla pushed away, coughing. He saw her brush tears from her eyes with angry fists as she marched to his kitchen, spitting in the waste bin and routing through the cooling unit for two bottles of fellip nectar.

He watched her with grim amusement. So different from her mother, and so much yet to learn. She silently handed him the second bottle, along with a cloth to spit out the taste. As he opened his bottle, Katralla sighed, leaning against the wall and taking a nip of the intoxicant.

She sniffed. "Frell." 

A tiny grin quirked the corners of his lips. "Such a mouth, for a princess."

"Shut up." But he could tell she was trying to hide a smile. The effort succeeded, and after a moment she said, "You realize I'm likely going to have to kiss every male on the planet."

"Yes."

"And none of them will amount to anything." Those tears were back in her eyes again. She trusted only him with her tears.

He shook his head, touching her shoulder softly. "We'll find something. We'll find a way. _I'll_ find you someone."

"Will you?" She was playful again, almost mocking. "I'm not certain how I feel about that."

"I'm not certain how _I_ feel about it. But it must be done. Clavor..."

Her face fell. "I know." She said quietly, "I want to be empress. I have ideas..."

"I know. We need you as empress." He cleared his throat and ran his fingers all the way down her arm, raising bumps and making her shiver. "You still have many cycles until your coronation. There's time."

She turned to him with wide eyes. "Let's just go away," she said desperately, quickly. Like she was afraid she'd change her mind. "You can take me away from this madness - take me away, Tyno, please."

The weight of the idea was almost too much, and he looked away. "Princess..."

" _Don't_ call me that." She pulled away from him, her hair hiding her face.

"Well, one of us has to remember," he asserted. "You said yourself not a hundred microts ago you want to be empress."

Her eyes closed. "I do." She was silent a moment, her jaw working furiously. "Perhaps there's a cure."

He didn't have the heart to tell her he'd been over that hope with her doctors a hundred times. If he responded at all, she'd know he was lying. Tyno reached up, fingering one of her golden curls. "I wish you would wear your hair loose around the palace," he murmured.

She glanced at him slyly out of the corner of her eye. "If I did, you'd never get anything done."

"No. I suppose not," he sighed. "Katralla..."

"Don't speak, Tyno." She smiled a bit sadly, more with her eyes than her mouth. Walking backward toward his private chamber, Katralla began unlacing the intricate straps of her dress.

Tyno swallowed hard and followed, shedding his jacket and tunic on the way. There were so many words to say, but none of them would do any good, and they both knew it. They stopped a metra from one another in his dimly-lit room, just looking. She had been sick for so long. He thought maybe she looked prettier than ever, with her hair tumbling about her bare shoulders. She'd lost some weight during her illness, but it brought out the sharp beauty of her face.

He reached for her, burying his fingers in her hair, and brought his lips to hers. Because he loved her, Tyno would take whatever she would give, any way she would give it. But even though the serum had been washed away, Katralla's mouth still tasted bitter.


End file.
